Speaker: Richard
Tell us a little bit about yourself
Richard : Richard. I'm 69 years old. I was originally in construction, a little bit of retail farming and now I'm retired. I'm happily married with a son. My interests, I guess are rather simple. They revolve around the farm life. It's, I like big birds. I like deer. I like, I like the outdoors. Other than that, special interests also probably includes a lot of reading. I enjoy books.
Tell us about your diagnosis
Richard : I probably felt something was wrong about four years ago. And, the problem was is that nobody seemed to know what was going on and it was really hard to get anything diagnosed and especially to get any form of treatment.
How has your life changed since your diagnosis?
Richard : I, a lot of things happened, or have changed in my life because of COPD. One is my, I don't know, my stamina, I guess I find myself getting tired frequently. What I used to be able to do around the farm like I, even up until my fifties, early sixties, I was like a little mini bulldozer. I just kept moving. But now I have to measure my steps. I have to be careful what I do. I can't overexert myself. The small things that I used to be able to do now become very hard to do and those large things that they used to be able to do have since, well, they're just not getting done anymore. So that's been the real problem with the COPD.
How has Best Care impacted your life?
Richard : I think the best thing that happened for me in the situation with COPD was getting involved in Best Care. I found that the, first of all the empathy that they have, for, for the, for me, was quite impactful. You could feel it and, they brought a lot of things to, to me that I probably didn't understand about my diagnosis and they, they really did help me in, in, getting the right medication and, and, I, they're just, I just can't say enough good things about them and I'll just leave it at that.
Do you have a message for others about the Best Care program?
Richard : For any politician that might have a chance to read or to listen to this this video that I'm recording. I urge you in the quickest possible way to get the funding out for Best Care. I have to say that it's probably been the best thing that's ever happened in my health care system, in my health care, life to date. I've had two heart surgeries, I, I didn't ever get that kind of care and concern and, and the availability of a practicing nurse to help me along as I have now with my COPD and Best Care. So to those that have COPD, try and find somebody that's involved with the Best Care program I recommend it highly. I can't say enough good things about it. And at that, I just say, doctors that aren't participating, I, I sincerely think you should really take a hard look at it. Thank you.
